Saturday, June 2, 2018

Just two months ago, Walt Disney Pictures showed a teaser for their latest live-action adaptation of one of their animated franchises, “Winnie the Pooh”. The stranger part of this however is that it is based on the idea of Pooh’s human friend, Christopher Robin, reencountering his childhood toy and playmate during an especially trying time in his adult life. The concept when initially announced was meet with uncertainty by fans, until seeing grown-up Christopher Robin portrayed by Ewan McGregor with pooh voiced by longtime VA Jim Cummings. The first teaser was well received, and the new trailer is following suit.

Empire Online has it that Disney has put up a new trailer for their upcoming film “Christopher Robin” over the weekend. The film stars Ewan McGregor as the now-grown Christopher Robin, a beleaguered and overworked office manager whose boss not only restricts his free time to spend with his family but also puts him up to terminate a portion of their company workforce. The initial teaser showed his reaction to find his friend Winnie the Pooh talking behind him; this trailer picks up from there.

The trailer begins with a scene adapting an event from the original Pooh books by A.A. Milne, where the dolls and forest animals that have been Christopher Robin’s companions in the Hundred Acre Wood throw him a party to celebrate his starting to go to school. What follows is a poignant last farewell between Pooh and Christopher Robin, with the latter promising that he will not forget Pooh even when he is a hundred. Cut to the scenes already shown in the teaser with old Christopher and from there he is spurred to answer Pooh’s request for help, as his other forest friends have disappeared. The two take a train to the countryside to investigate.

What follows are sequences of humor and utmost nostalgia for fans of Pooh, as he and Christopher Robin explore the woods to find the other residents: Eeyore (Brad Garrett) under Poohsticks Bridge, most of the others under a tree’s hollow. Following a surprisingly fun day, Christopher resolves to return to his wife (Hayley Atwell) and daughter (Bronte Carmichael). This in turn inspires Pooh and friends to follow him to the city. Hilarity ensues, and plenty of heartwarming along with it.

“Christopher Robin” also stars Mark Gatiss and the voice talents of Nick Mohammed (Piglet), Toby Jones (Owl), Peter Capaldi (Rabbit) and Sophie Okonedo (Kanga). Cummings also provides the voice of Tigger in addition to Pooh. The movie will premiere in the US on August 3, and in the UK – the original home of Pooh – two weeks later on the 17th.